German Court Finds YouTube Liable In Copyright Case

A German court has found YouTube liable for copyright damages after one of its users uploaded copyrighted music videos. A Google spokesperson tells the AP that it’s evaluating the court’s decision and will appeal.

The case stems around a YouTube user who uploaded several videos of singer Sarah Brightman. While YouTube specifically warns users not to upload copyrighted material, the court’s ruling says that isn’t enough. From the AP article:

The Hamburg state court said the standardized question to users about whether they have the necessary rights to publish material is not enough to relieve YouTube of the legal responsibility for the content, especially because the platform can be used anonymously.

Just a couple months ago in the U.S., a court ruled that Google/YouTube was not liable in a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Viacom over the uploading of Viacom-owned programming.